Sign.



E. M. HANLBY.

SIGN.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 20, 19111 Patented Aug. 6, 19,12.

nnwaan M. nannnyyor aoonssrna; YORK.

SIGN.

Specification of Letters atent.

Application filed-March 20,- 1911.

ratentean tc; 1912. Serial- No. 615,686.

To all whom it mag "concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD M. HANLEY,

of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and- State of New York, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Signs, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompauying drawings. p

The present invention relates to signs and more particularly to that type having characters adapted to be illuminated by a number of electric glow or incandescent lamps, an object of the invention being to provide a. construction in which the cost of installing is reduced to a minimum, this result being accomplished by the provision of characters which may be inexpensively manufactured and which are formed in such a manner that the conductor wires are housed thereby, thus reducing the amount of labor required-for setting up the'sign due to dispensing with the usual fire proof tubing inclosing the conductors.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain parts and combinations of parts all of which will be hereinafter described, the novelfeatures being pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front view of a sign constructed in accordance with this invention with the several characters all connected; Fig. 2 is a front view of the si n built in accordance with this invention with the characters separated; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of one of the charaters; Fig. 4 is a substantially central longitudinal section through Fig. 3, through the sockets. Fig. 5 is a cross section through Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the socket.

In carrying out the invention there may be employed a suitable base or back ground 1 on which illuminable characters are preferably arranged in high relief, either in one body as. shown in Fig. 1 or in separate bodies as shown in Fig. 2. Each character has its body portion 2 formed of a plastic material which is preferably a non-conductor and incombustible, being also not very fragile. In this instance, it is composed of casein combined with alkalis, such as caustic strontia, caustic lime or sodium silicate and ammonia. With this may be incorporated asbestos, brickdust or other incombustible material to renderthe mixture fire roof. An addition of an alkaline solution oi shel- 'lac will 'render-thesubstance water proof.

" The same result may be obtained by adding linseed oil tothe mixture or painting 'the character with waterproof'paint.

The front face of the'character is provided with sockets 3'for incandescent or glow lamps 4,-said' sockets'having their front ends flush with the :front face of the body. The socket members-are formed of the same material as the body: 2-so asto-be homogeneous with said =-body. 'Within each socket :may 'be arranged contacts -6 and 7 -for'cooperation witht-he usual incandescent lamp contacts, the contact dbeing in the form of a-- screw threaded sleeve while the contact 7 -is in the form of a 'disk eupported atthe bottom of the screw threaded sleeve 6 and insulated therefrom at e 8.

- The conductor wires 9 from each lamp 4 lead-through openings in the base of the socket member 3 and connect with theline wires arranged in a tube 10 leading from the back of the sign. To house or inclose the conductors 9 of each character, the latterhas its rear wall provided with a pocket or conductor chamber 11 in which the socket member 3 projects to render the latter accessible from the chamber, in order that the conductors may be passed through the openings in the bottom of the socket, said openings providing communications between the sockets and the conductor. chamber. securing means for the contacts 6 and 7 is also accessible from the conductor pocket or chamber and comprises. in this instance a fusible substance 12 uniting the contacts to the socket member 3, the latter being provided with an opening through which the fusible substance may be reached. Of course, .when several characters are formed in one body as shown in Fig. 1, the pockets of the characters communicate, so that only one outlet for the conductors is necessary.

The securing means for the characters, in this instance, embodies devices embedded in the body 2 and detachably connected to the back ground or base. Preferably bolts 13'have their heads embedded in the body 2 and project rearwardly from the character between the sides thereof, so as not to be visiblefrom the front of the character, said bolts passing through the base or back ground 1' and being held by nuts 14. A metallic-plate or sheet of non-conducting 1ncombustible material 15 may be arranged between the character and the base or back The ground 1, thus entirely inclosing the conductor wires within a fire-proof chamber.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that there has been provided a sign in which the character may be inexpensively formed into any desired shape or size to project into high relief, so that the sign is distinctly visible in daylight. Means is provided whereby the glow lamps may be easily connected to or removed from the characters, and the conductor wires leading to the lamps are housed to meet the requirements of the board of fire underwriters without the employment of metal tubing which is inexpensive to install. The characters are connected to the base board or back ground in such a manner that they may be quickly removed therefrom, for the purpose of repairing any of the electrical connections of the character, and the non-conducting socket members are firmly connected to the body of the character by an inexpensive means which preferably excludes the entrance of moisture into the conductor pocket. The material forming the character is both fire-proof and a non-conductor and at the same time is not liable to break or to be affected by the weather conditions.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An illuminable sign character comprising a plastic body having a conductor pocket in its rear face to inclose the conductors, glow lamp sockets formed homogeneously with the body in the front face thereof and each-having an opening therein communicating with the conductor pocket, the front ends of the sockets being flush with the front face of the body, and contacts arranged'in the sockets.

2. A sign character formed of plastic material having a conductor pocket and a socket member formed integral with the body of the character, there being openings through the bottom of the socket member communicating with said pocket.

EDWARD M. HANLEY.

Witnesses:

H. H. SIMMs, A. M. WHITMORE. 

